Coe: Talk about Stahr and Irish

My bad, "mplatt" -- you are right, I left out that part. I also learned a lesson in humility that day.

I rode the Section 1 bus and Stahr and Collins were on it. All of the girls were crazy about Collins, who was the best looking guy in the section. Malone was a real trip. I ran the Class B girls race and had no spikes, and had to borrow a soaking wet pair from one of the Bronxville (Class C) girls after her race. Four or five inches of snow, I recall, on some golf course, after a nine hour bus trip north to Malone on the Canadian line. I remember the Bronxville girls stayed in classy digs in Lake Placid, while the rest of the Section 1 crew was relegated to a rundown tacky motel with rooms decorated like different countries. Ours was "Hawaii" and the JFK-Somers guys were in "Mexico." I finished in the 20s. That year at the All-County Westchester/Putnam dinner Collins was voted top male runner over Stahr. Eamonn Coghlan gave the speech, about how he forgot to wear a jock strap during his world championship race the year or two before, which he won. Eamonn and Collins of course had about a dozen photo opps at the dinner.

Former NYS runner chick wrote:

the rest of the Section 1 crew was relegated to a rundown tacky motel with rooms decorated like different countries. Ours was "Hawaii"

Always been one of my favorite countries

Exactly! In Malone, NY, they think Hawaii is a country. Or at least they did in 1981.

BTW, here's a result I found on the Web... could this be the famous Stahr? It's a result from a 5k road race in Michigan in 2002, and he would be exactly the right age. But the pace?

20 Mike Stahr 37 OXFORD 20:11 6:30

Here's the link:

http://www.gaultracemanagement.com/results/grandblanc/2002_5kRun.txt

joe smith wrote:

gregorak also ran 2:14 for the 26er

Gregorek ran 2:16:31 for the marathon.

What happened to Steve San Antonio he was also smokin in those days.

I would put the snow at 1-3 inches. It was cold however and the day before when we walked the course it was 50's and sunny. I had no idea it was going to snow.

I think Eamonn had something to do with Collins coming over as Rye was Coghlan's USA homebase.

San Antonio was class of 81 I think? Not sure what happened to him after HS, but he ran some super fast 2 miles his Junior and Senior year.

A runner from Malone ended up being NYS champ in the 2 mile in 1982 after Grant Whitney flamed out in the 90 degree weather trying to break Gregorek's NYS 2 mile record. Marc Gosslin, went on to run well at St Lawrence I think.

Brian

Yes, you're right... I do remember the day before, it was pretty nice, and we woke up to find it snowing. Three inches sounds about right, but definitely not easy to plow through on a slippery golf course. What a fun trip, though -- although I remember some girls crying after the race, shivering from the cold. Driving 9 hours up to the very top of NYS and competing at States was quite an experience for me as a 15-year-old.

2nd in the race was Bill McLaughlin of East Aurora. He went on to be a very highly ranked amateur triathlete. Maybe National Champion once, maybe.

His twin brother Walt went on to coach for nearly ten years at Beaver River in Section 3 NY. He developed a school of 300 kids into a top ten ranked National Cross country program.

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO KEVIN DEGRAFF OF ADIRONDAK - SECTION 3?

I THINK HE WENT TO HOUSTON THEN I LOST TRACK

Hey all... Yep, that was me running a 5k... Actually, I was kind of happy that I was able to finish the race due to an old injury and lack of any running for a few years. I was visiting a friend (former ASU runner Mike Scannell) and another friend?s wife dropped the gauntlet on me. What could I do but jump in. Sense then I've been training and coaching and am just starting to think I would like to jump back into some competition. If the calf stays stable then I think things will go pretty well. While coaching this summer I have jumped into a couple of runs on the track and, boy, did that feel nice.

Anyway, Miles Irish sent me this link so I thought it only fair that I write.

Thanks for all the memories.

Mike

booooooo ya

Mike -- you were a NYS god!!!!! You made all those long, boring track meets come to life. I know a girl from my high school who actually missed the bus back home from some Mahopac meet because she wanted to stay and watch you race. You and Miles and Smitty were da men!

I concur... Stahr was a great runner, consistenly great... I think he won a couple Millroses... he'll probably be winning the master's division in big races in a few years.

Kewl wrote:

Mike -- you were a NYS god!!!!! You made all those long, boring track meets come to life. I know a girl from my high school who actually missed the bus back home from some Mahopac meet because she wanted to stay and watch you race. You and Miles and Smitty were da men!

Wow. Thanks. I didn't know that. It was a lot of fun. Man, you would think I would have had plenty of girlfriends then... Oh, well, I guess I was just a one-girl (at a time) type of guy.

Former NYS runner chick wrote:

I concur... Stahr was a great runner, consistenly great... I think he won a couple Millroses... he'll probably be winning the master's division in big races in a few years.

Thanks, as well. That's right... Masters... Am I that old already? Ouch.

No... I place you at about 37... same age as me! You just said you were going to start stepping up your training again. Think master's cash in three years. It'll be yours.

Yes, I remember talking to one of your girlfriends at a meet... she went to Carmel HS with you. She was also a runner as I recall. Kind of curly hair.